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Scam Alert

“Grandchild scam” incidents are being reported locally, according to Portland Police.

On Jan. 18 and 22, twoPortlandresidents received calls from someone claiming that their grandchildren had been arrested and were in foreign jails.

In one case, the victim spoke to a young woman claiming to be her granddaughter and that she was currently in a British Columbia jail. The victim then spoke a man claiming to be a law enforcement officer who told the victim that, in order to have her granddaughter released, she would need to wire $3,400 dollars to an address in Bolivia.

The other case involved a grandson being held in Port Au Prince, Haiti. In this case, the victim wired $2,652 to Haiti.

In both cases, the scammers lied. The thieves also had personal information about the grandchildren, including names and personal information, making their pitch believable, police said.